Rajiv Shah

Dr. Rajiv Shah led the efforts of nearly 10,000 staff in more than 70 countries around the world to advance USAID’s mission of ending extreme poverty and promoting resilient, democratic societies.

Under Dr. Shah’s leadership, USAID applied innovative technologies and engaged the private sector to solve the world’s most intractable development challenges. This new model of development brings together an increasingly diverse community—from large companies to local civil society groups to communities of faith—to deliver meaningful results.

Dr. Shah also managed the U.S. Government’s humanitarian response to catastrophic crises around the world, from the devastating 2010 Haiti earthquake to Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines to the Ebola epidemic in West Africa.

Through an extensive set of reforms called “USAID Forward,” Dr. Shah worked with the United States Congress to transform USAID into the world’s premier development Agency that prioritizes public-private partnerships, innovation, and meaningful results. He currently serves on the boards of the Overseas Private Investment Corporation and the Millennium Challenge Corporation, as well as participates on the National Security Council.

Previously, Dr. Shah served as Undersecretary and Chief Scientist in the U.S. Department of Agriculture, where he created the National Institute for Food and Agriculture. Prior to joining the Obama Administration, he spent eight years at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, where he led efforts in global health, agriculture, and financial services, including the creation of the International Finance Facility for Immunization.

He is a graduate of the University of Michigan, the University of Pennsylvania Medical School, and the Wharton School of Business. He regularly appears in the media and has delivered keynote addresses before the U.S. Military Academy, the National Prayer Breakfast, and diverse audiences across Asia, Africa, and the Middle East. Dr. Shah was awarded the Distinguished Service Award by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. He has served as a World Economic Forum Young Global Leader, been named to Fortune’s 40 Under 40, and has received multiple honorary degrees.

He lives in Washington, D.C. with his wife Shivam Mallick Shah and three children and has given up mountain climbing for family bicycle rides.

Indian farmers need climate adaptation support, and they need it promptly. That is why USAID/India and Skymet Weather Services started a four-year “Partnership in Climate Services for Resilient Agriculture in India” in October 2015 to help a farmer decide which crop to sow and how to harvest best results against the threats of climate change.

The U.S. Government is a committed partner of Kenya in agriculture, supporting Kenya through President Obama’s Feed the Future global program. Feed the Future aims to reduce poverty and stunting by 20 percent through agriculture. Its Kenya Innovation Engine bridges the gap and catalyzes private investment by reducing investors’ risk in backing innovations to address food security, malnutrition, and poverty across Kenya.

Justice Ginsburg and her colleagues across the judiciary are our nation’s most credible voices on what works and why, and a continued partnership with the U.S. judiciary will be essential to our success going forward. That’s why I am thrilled that USAID has recently renewed our agreement with the International Judicial Relations Committee so we can continue to tap into the extraordinary wealth of knowledge and experience of American judges.

Today’s Leadership Summit announces the first 12 Mekong Learning Centers to officially join our program and also kicks-off a five-day training workshop for 60 instructors and administrators from each of the participating Lower Mekong countries (Burma-Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam).

I am very pleased to be here today to help launch this important partnership between the Kenya Electricity Generating Company Limited, KenGen, and the U.S. Power Africa initiative, which seeks to bring 2,500 megawatts of low-cost, clean power on line in Kenya over the next ten years.

I’m pleased to participate in this important conference organized by the Macedonian Center for International Cooperation as part of USAID’s Anti-corruption project, and to see all of you in attendance here today.

We have shown that development is an endeavor backed by bipartisan commitment; we have shown that USAID can deliver. I have told members of Congress with whom I have met that I will be transparent and accountable – a pledge made easier by the hard work and rigor that the men and women of USAID bring to work every day. I have also said that I will not be shy about coming to Congress to ask for what we need.